The administration and faculty of San Francisco State University (SFSU) have identified mental-health research as an area in which SFSU has the potential to become a national leader among minority-serving institutions. The university has developed a plan to realize this potential and started to implement the plan by hiring a qualified mental health researcher, D. Thereasa Cronan, to lead its efforts to develop an effective infrastructure in which SFSU faculty and students can pursue cutting-edge research. DR. Cronan submitted a Career Opportunities in Research (COR) proposal that was recently funded. This is an important step; the COR grant and an M-RISP grant would be an extremely synergistic combination of forces to further minority participation in mental health research. The proposed Minority Research Infrastructure Support (M- RISP) Program would be directed from within the University's Marian Wright Edelman Institute, which is directed by Dr. Cronan and dedicated to promoting and supporting multi-disciplinary research in mental health. Program activities will focus on: 1) increasing research collaborations among faculty members at SFSU and neighboring research-intensive institutions; 2) establishing national and international faculty networks for mental health research; 3) seeking and obtaining R01-level extramural funding; and 4) increasing faculty research productivity, as indicated by peer-reviewed presentations and publications. The faculty will be providing release time through the grant, to be matched by the university, travel support to present research results, and professional development workshops. Minority students will be actively involved in minority faculty-led research projects as research assistants. A systematic and extensive plan for educating both M-RISP faculty and students about high quality mental health research is planned with the direct involvement of collaborators from UC Berkeley, UC Davis, US San Francisco, and Stanford University. In addition, four Independent Investigator projects associated with the M-RISP core are proposed and include: two studiers of: the under-use of mental health services by minorities, one study of how acculturation problems affect the mental health of adolescent Chinese immigrants, and one study of language development in infants. The SFSU administration is dedicated to developing strength in mental health research and committed $575,000 in matching funds in support of the M-RISP program.
